Help with basement floor drain questions? Plz!

[akthor]

So we bought this lakeside house. Being lakeside there is no room for a leach field. We bought the house knowing this and that it had a 1000 gallon holding tank that had to be pumped. They had approval and permits to add another 2000 gallon tank. The previous owners died before getting it done. We bought the place as a 2nd home and a fixer upper hence got a great price. We have done a lot to the house. Installed the new 2000 gal holding tank. New roof. Tore out all carpet. New floors, cork in the bedroom and doing vinyl planks over the rest. Done more too just too much to list.

So we've been here a year and a half. The whole time I've been fighting this SMELL.

Like someone who has a catbox you first walk in you smell it after you are there awhile you don't smell it anymore. But I'm pretty fastidious hence I'd never have a cat. It would embarrass me if people smelled it. It may be silly but thats me.

Now the SMELL not sure how to describe it. It's like musty old house smell, a touch of moldy basement with a hint of sewage. It's lessened a lot in the warm months when we have windows open BUT in the cold months..... we only stay at the house depending on work schedules and weather 50% or less of the time. So in the winter with the house shut up and no ones been there... you walk in and the SMELL is full force. Sometimes I open the front and back doors to get some fresh air in. Heating the outdoors in the process.

The previous owners lived here forever. Both smokers. Every area except the bathroom was carpeted. The house sat empty for a few years too. So at first I attributed the smell to that. But after tearing out the carpets and washing every surface, walls, floors, ceilings I realized it wasn't that.

So in my constant battle with the SMELL I thought maybe it was coming from the floor drain in the basement.

So I stuffed some empty plastic grocery bags in it to stop any smell coming up. I thought. Next day there was a 3' circle of gross water around the drain. WTF??? Took the bags out mopped it all up. Next morning all dry no sign of water down in the drain (btw no rain storms or nothing). Came here this morning the smell as bad as ever. Went down in the basement. Floor drain bone dry even down inside as far as I can see. Convinced the smell was coming from there I wrapped the drain cover in a plastic bag put a gallon jug of cleaner on top and went upstairs to bed (I work overnights). 6 hours later I go down to the basement to get something and that same puddle of water has appeared????? WTF?

Why does me blocking the basement drain cause water to come back up the drain? It's not coming from anywhere else. No rain. In fact everything is frozen, the ground, the lake. It's coming up from the floor drain but it seems only when I block it off. Am I causing a reverse vacuum or pressure thing??? Just weird. Sorry for the lengthy post thanks ahead of time to any who reads it and might have ideas.

 

[Jaybird]

Is there a P-trap in the floor drain? Is there a vent in the holding tanks?

Cheers
Jay

 

[MidAtlanticBrew]

Fill the drain with clean water, I mean a carboy full to rinse it through. You may have traps that are dry and the smell is ol musty water. I have a spare bath, the sink and toilet might not get used for 9 months. When the traps dry out, mannnnnnnnn, it's like I have a dead body in there. First time it happend I thought dead squirrel, or mouse found it's way into the wall. I finally realized the sink, toilet and shower traps dried out and were letting sewer vapors directly into the house. A few flushes and letting the shower and sink run for 15 minutes had the room smelling like a rose in no time.

 

[akthor]

No idea of the P trap in the floor drain.This house is at least 60 yrs old may be older.

I recently learned of the dry trap thing in researching how to win the war on the SMELL.

We did away with the washer and dryer knowing we had holding tanks. But there was an old laundry sink that never gets used. So AH HAH! moment that that was the cause. Ran water in all the sinks and the tub and put stoppers in the drains, to stop dehydration. Came back 3 days later still had the SMELL! The only drain I didn't was the floor drain hence the blocking the floor drain stratagem.

 

[wingnutbrew]

You can get a rubber stopper (test plug) for your floor drain at a plumbing supply store. You should be able to remove the grate from the drain and measure to see what size. Probably 4" (pour a gallon of water in drain before capping)

It is doubtful that covering it is causing water to back up but venting out of the holding tank could be the cause. If not vented properly also could be causing suction through the floor drain and pulling water out of the P-Trap and that will let the gasses vent back through the drain.

You can cap the drain indefinitely.

If you were inclined, you could fill up your sinks, tubs the release everything and flush toilets at the same time and see what happens at the drain. This will tell you right away if you have venting issues.

Another albeit unlikely cause is venting at roof level. Not having enough air coming into the lines can also cause issues.